Diaries of a former Le Cordon Bleu Paris Student.

October 26, 2005

Salon du Chocolat

The one and only Salon du Chocolate. Need I say more? And only a 10-minute walk from my apartment! Acres of chocolate, confections, combinations you never thought possible. And just to show off everything that can be done to chocolate, there were entire dresses made from it. One only dreams of "couture" like this!

The dress on display when you walked in the door. And rightly so!

They turn something like this...

...into THIS! The ultimate opera dress.

Dress from one of our Le Cordon Bleu chefs- terribly disappointing.

It was a sugar sensory overload. I saw no less than 5 chocolate fountains, contraptions to temper chocolate, chocolate molds of all kinds, multiple hot chocolate dispensers. Even chocolate facials.

Since it was the last day, vendors were more than generous with samples. In fact, every time I turned around, there was yet another person offering me chocolate. It took less than 1/2 hour before I was buzzing with all the sugar I had eaten. Everything even got a little blurry.

Japanese Chocolatiers - so meticulous, with their sushi boards & tiny piping bags.Too bad I didn't like their green tea ganache. It tasted like pure butter.

They make exquisite chocolate boxes.

And what to do when you've had too much chocolate? Eat more! Highlights were an amazing lavender chocolate, a geranium-cassis chocolate truffle from a super-friendly American/French couple with a chocolate shop in Belgium, chocolate-orange cake, sesame chocolate bars, and spicy hot chocolate.

I even realized a little something about myself: the more choices I am offered, the less tempted I am to buy anything because I'm too overwhelmed. Can you believe I purchased only one thing, a bag of mini macarons?

But don't fret, my little bag of treats were more than enough. They were from Casati du Lac and had classic flavors like pistachio, cafe, framboise, and chocolate (of course). This was the first time I purchased macarons since arriving in Paris, so I wanted to make it really special. And these were excellent- chewy yet crispy on top, just the way I like them. I get wary of the ones with peaks or ones which are too soft. That's just not a macaron in my book.

I desparately needed something to absorb all the sugar racing through my bloodstream. Liz talked me into my first duck rillette and foie gras sandwich. Need I say more? No wonder I prefer duck over beef or pork. Still, it was hard to choose since they also offered foie gras/fig jam or chocolate/brie sandwiches, but I'm glad I picked the rillette. I guess you need something rich and sodium-laced to gently come off a sugar high, something that still gives you enough energy to scorn the Nestle booth! Well, unless they were handing out Tollhouse cookies - I'm such a hypocrite.

Thank goodness I went on the last day. With the Salon in such close proximity, I would've attempted permanent residency there.